Bag for carrying box-shaped objects

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a bag for carrying boxes-shaped objects, preferably pizza boxes ( 15, 16 ), said bag including a rectangular bottom wall portion ( 1 ), side wall portions ( 3, 5 ) attached to said base wall portion ( 1 ) and handles ( 7 ) at opposite side wall portions ( 3 ). It is significant for the bag according to the present invention that two of the side wall portions ( 3, 5 ) constitute main side wall portions ( 3 ) that are opposite each other and extend along an entire edge of the bottom wall portion ( 1 ), and that at least two of the side wall portions constitute partial side wall portions ( 5 ) that extend only along a part of an edge of the bottom wall portion ( 1 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a bag for carrying boxes-shapedobjects, preferably pizza boxes, said bag including a rectangular bottomwall portion, side wall portions attached to said bottom wall portionand handles at opposite side wall portions.

PRIOR ART

[0002] From WO 92/09493 a bag for carrying box-shaped objects ispreviously known. The bag consists of a flexible material, e.g. athermoplastic. In connection with the placement of a box-shaped object,preferably a pizza box, in the bag the wall portions of the bag arefolded sideways and the pizza box is lowered into the bag. Since alsothe wall portions consist of a flexible material it is difficult tointroduce the pizza box in the bag in a simple way. In this connectionit should be considered that the operator holds the pizza box with bothhands. If the carrying person puts down the bag the side wall portionswill fall down and it might be a problem to grab both handles with onlyone hand.

[0003] From U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,884 a bag for carrying box-shapedobjects is previously known, said bag consisting of a flexible materialand the bag may be brought to assume a flat position in connection withthe introduction of the box-shaped object into the bag. Then twoopposite side wall portions are displaced laterally, in a direction fromeach other, and subsequently said side wall portions are pulled upwardsto enclose the box-shaped object. In connection with this procedurethere must be a sufficient large space available apart from the spacethat is occupied by the box-shaped object. If the carrying person putsdown the bag the side wall portions will fall down and it might be aproblem to grab both handles with only one hand.

[0004] From DE 298 12 168 U1 a device for carrying one or morebox-shaped objects is previously known. In principle, the deviceconstitutes a strap that is provided with openings on one hand for twoopposite corners of the package and on the other hand for creatingcarrying handles. A very significant problem in connection with thedevice according to DE 298 12 168 U1 is that if the carrying person putsaway the device with the box-shaped packages, the ends of the strap willfall down on the ground. Then it could be a problem for the carryingperson to get hold of these ends by using only one hand.

OBJECTS AND FEATURES OF THE INVENTION

[0005] A primary object of the present invention is to present a bag ofthe type defined above, said bag being very user friendly, i.e. itshould both be simple to place the box-shaped objects in the bag andalso to remove said objects from the bag. The bag should also be simpleto transfer from stored position to active position. When the carryingperson puts away the bag it should be simple for him/her to again gripthe handles of the bag.

[0006] Still an object of the present invention is that the bag shouldrequire a small space in stored position.

[0007] A further object of the present invention is to manufacture thebag from a material that could be recycled.

[0008] At least the primary object of the present invention is realisedby means of a bag that has been given the features defined in theadherent independent claim 1. Preferred embodiments are defined in theindependent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Below an embodiment of the invention will be described, referencebeing made to the enclosed drawings, where:

[0010]FIG. 1 shows the bag according to the present invention in folded,stored position;

[0011]FIG. 2 shows the bag according to FIG. 1 in an intermediateposition between folded and erected position;

[0012]FIG. 3 shows a bag according to the invention in erected position,a number of pizza boxes being positioned in the bag; and

[0013]FIG. 4 shows how a carrying person grips the bag according to theinvention in connection with carrying the bag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0014] As is evident from FIGS. 1 and 2 the bag according to the presentinvention comprises a bottom wall portion 1, two main side wall portions3, four partial side wall portions 5 and two handles 7. Each one of themain side wall portions 3 are connected to the bottom wall portion 1 viaa first fold line 9. Each one of the partial side wall portions 5 areconnected on one hand to the bottom wall portion 1 and on the other handto an adjacent main side wall portion 3. The connection to the bottomwall portion 1 is effected via a second fold line 10 and to the mainside wall portion 3 via a third fold line 11. As is evident from FIGS.2-4 each partial side wall portion 5 has an extension only along a partof the adjacent edge of the bottom wall portion 1. This means that afree space is created between two partial side wall portions 5 that areattached to a common edge of the bottom wall portion 1. In the shownembodiment the partial side wall portions 5 have an extension along saidedge that is less than ⅓ of the length of the edge. The function of thisfree space will be evident from the description below.

[0015] The handles 7 are connected to the main side wall portions 3 inthe area of the free edge of the main side wall portions 3, saidconnection preferably being effected by means of an adhesive.

[0016] In folded position of the bag according to the present inventionthe main side wall portions 3 in principle abut the bottom wall portion1. From FIG. 2 it is evident that each of the partial side wall portions5 is equipped with an intermediate fourth fold line 12. In foldedposition of the bag the partial side wall portions 5 will be doubledaround said fourth fold line 12. In folded position of the bag, see FIG.1, the handles 7 are folded to abut against the main side wall portions3.

[0017] The function of the bag according to the present invention willnow be described. When the bag according to the present invention is tobe used it is normally in folded, stored position according to FIG. 1.The bag then occupies an extremely small space and is preferablystackable. In such a case the main side wall portions 3 abut the bottomwall portion 1 and the handles 7 abut the main side wall portions 3. Inorder to bring the bag according to the present invention to resume anactive position said bag should be transferred from folded position toerected position. In this connection reference being made to FIG. 2 thatshows the bag according to the present invention in a position betweenfolded and erected. In connection therewith the main side wall portions3 have left their abutment against the bottom wall portion 1 and thepartial side wall portions 5 are about to assume an erected plane state,the erection being effected around the second fold line 10, the thirdfold line 11 and the fourth fold line 12.

[0018] In FIG. 3 the bag according the present invention is shown inerected position. Therewith the main side wall portions 3 and thepartial side wall portions 5 have an extension essentially perpendicularto the bottom wall portion 1. The handles 7 are also erected and extendupwards. In this connection it should also be pointed out that in theshown embodiment the handles are attached on the inner side of the mainside wall portions 3.

[0019] In FIG. 3 it is illustrated how two pizza boxes, one higher 15and one lower 16, are placed in the bag on its bottom wall portion 1.This may be effected in an extremely simple way due to the presence ofthe above mentioned free spaces between the partial side wall portions 5along a common edge of the bottom wall portion 1. The free spaces makesit possible for the hands of the operator, said hands gripping aroundthe pizza boxes 15, 16, to reach all the way down to the bottom wallportion 1 in order to place the boxes 15, 16 on the bottom wall portion1. When the pizza boxes 15, 16 are placed on the bottom wall portion 1of the bag according to the present invention the bag may be carriedaway. Thereby the carrying person grips the two handles 7 by one hand,see FIG. 4. In this connection it should be pointed out that it isimportant that the handles 7 have a sufficient extension, i.e. thedistance between the gripping part of the handles 7 and the adjacentopposite edge of the main side wall portion 3 should be more than halfof the cross section dimension of the bottom wall portion 1. In case thehandles 7 have a too small extension the bag will tighten in the area ofthe handles 7 and it may also occur that the bag squeezes the box/boxes15, 16 that is/are located in the bag.

[0020] If there is a need to put down the bag, e.g. in connection withthe opening of a car door, this may be done without problems. Thecarrying person quite simply puts the bag down on the ground and the bagin principle assumes the position shown in FIG. 3. When the carryingperson wants to repeat the lifting of the bag he/she only grips thehandles 7 that are in erected position. In this connection it should bepointed out that when handling the bag according to the presentinvention, whether it is in folded or erected position, the onlyrequired area on the ground in principle corresponds to the area that apizza box occupies on the ground.

[0021] The material of the bag according to the present invention shouldbe a relatively stiff paper, e.g. of the type that is used in so-calledpaper bags/paper carriers. When the bag has been transferred from foldedto erected position the bag should remain in the erected position, seeFIG. 3. This functional demand brings about that the paper in the bagshould have a certain degree of stiffness.

[0022] In the shown embodiment the height of the main side wall portions3 is less than half the cross section dimension of the bottom wallportion 1 that in principle is in the shape of a square.

[0023] The partial side wall portions 5 should, at least in the areawhere they join the main side wall portions, have a correspondingheight.

Feasible Modifications of the Invention

[0024] A basic principle of the present invention is to create a freespace along two opposite edges of the bottom wall portion 1. However,within the scope of the present invention, the shape and size of thefree space may vary as long as it fulfils its function, i.e. to allowaccess all the way down to the bottom wall portion 1 when a box shapedobject is placed in the bag or removed from the bag.

[0025] In the embodiment described above the bag has four partial sidewall portions 5. However, within the scope of the present invention itis also feasible that the bag has only two partial side wall portionsthat extend along about half the length of the adherent side edge of thebottom wall portion. In this case the partial side wall portions arepreferably arranged diagonally in relation to the bottom wall portion 1.Thereby support is given for both main side wall portions 3 when theyare erected. As pointed out above it is however important that that thefree space that is created along an edge of the bottom wall portion issufficiently large to allow the handling that is illustrated in FIG. 3,i.e. that there is room for the hands of the person that takes care ofthe placement of pizza boxes in the bag and also removal of pizza boxesfrom the bag.

1. Bag for carrying boxes-shaped objects, preferably pizza boxes (15,16), said bag including a rectangular bottom wall portion (1), side wallportions (3, 5) attached to said base wall portion (1) and handles (7)at opposite side wall portions (3), characterized in that two of theside wall portions (3, 5) constitute main side wall portions (3) thatare opposite each other and extend along an entire edge of the bottomwall portion (1), and that at least two of the side wall portionsconstitute partial side wall portions (5) that extend only along a partof an edge of the bottom wall portion (1).
 2. Bag according to claim 1,characterized in that the number of partial side wall portions is four,and that a free space is defined between two partial side wall portions(5) that extends along a common edge of the bottom wall portion (1). 3.Bag according to claim 2, characterized in that one of the partial sidewall portions (5) has an extension along the common edge that is lessthan ⅓ of the entire length of the edge.
 4. Bag according to any of theclaims 1-3, characterized in that it is manufactured from paper, andthat the side wall portions (3, 5) are attached to the bottom wallportion (1) via fold lines (9, 10).
 5. Bag according to any of theclaims 1-4, characterized in that joining between the main side wallportions (3) and adjacent partial side wall portions (5) is in the shapeof a fold line (11).
 6. Bag according to any of the previous claims,characterized in that the bottom wall portion (1) is in the shape of asquare.
 7. Bag according to claim 6, characterized in that the main sidewall portions (3) has a height that is less half the cross sectiondimension of the bottom wall portion (1).
 8. Bag according to claim 6 or7, characterized in that the handles (7) have an extension, i.e. thedistance between the gripping part of the handles (7) and the adjacentopposite edge of the main side wall portion (3), that is slightly morethan half the cross section dimension of the bottom wall portion (1).